J/111 Wins Adelaide to Port Lincoln Race & Lincoln Race Week Regatta

Rob Date and crew from the J/111 SCARLET RUNNER 11 recently sailed in the 160.0nm Adelaide to Port Lincoln Race (South Australia), followed by the Teakle Classic Lincoln Week Regatta. Rob’s J/111 home port is near Melbourne in Victoria, so the crew sailed the 550+nm trip to Adelaide against the predominant westerly winds to compete in the regatta. The SCARLET RUNNER crew was, for the most part, inexperienced offshore ocean racers. The team included Rob’s daughter, his future son-in-law, his best mate for more than 40 years, and the balance being the usual inshore race crew; there was seven crew in total. The Adelaide to Port Lincoln Race started in the waters of the Gulf of St Vincent off Adelaide. Forty boats left the Outer Harbour/North Haven Marina in Adelaide on a Friday about 3.00pm. It is "South Australia’s Premier Ocean Race" and, now in its 69th year, it has proven that it provides all the challenges of a Category 3 offshore race. The route takes the fleet southwest from Adelaide to Marion Reef at the foot of York Peninsula along the foot to Cape Spencer. Then, the fleet heads northwest past Wedge and Thistle Islands and Dangerous Reef to Port Lincoln. The race started with a port tack beat for 35.0nm. After passing Marion Reef, the course freed up. SCARLET RUNNER 11 put up the code zero and was doing 14 knots with the occasional knock down. Unfortunately, the zero did not last the distance. After passing the bottom of the York Peninsula, the J/111 went into downwind VMG running mode as the wind pressure dropped. The final 20.0nm had them running downwind under A1 spinnaker. SCARLET RUNNER 11 achieved the fastest time for this section of the race. The distance race was then followed by the Teakle Classic Lincoln Regatta with a mix of inshore and coastal courses over four days. The fleet sailed six races. At the conclusion of the regatta, after all points scored for the Adelaide to Port Lincoln Race and the Lincoln Race Week, it was SCARLET RUNNER 11 that topped the Division 1 leaderboard, scoring first on AMS (9 points), first on PHS and second by just two points on IRC.

Paul Heys

Hamble-based yacht sales business Key Yachting Ltd, have made the truly sad and shocking announcement that Paul Heys, co-founder and Managing Director, has passed away. Paul was enjoying a much-deserved holiday in the Caribbean with his wife Marie-Claude and came into difficulties while swimming on Monday morning. Paul was a much-loved Husband, Dad, Brother and Granddad, and was greatly admired in the sailing community; sailing was his life and passion. Paul will be missed terribly by everyone who knew him. Details of the funeral arrangements will be made available once finalised.

Sun and Ruhlmans Shine on the St. Petersburg NOOD

It was another beautiful day for the final races of the Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta St. Petersburg. Once the sea breeze filled in, racing got underway and most Classes completed two races for a regatta total of eight to nine races. In the five-boat J/111 fleet, Rob Ruhlman’s Spaceman Spiff nailed first place with 18 points (2-3-1-1-3-1-1-2-4). Jeffrey Davis’ Shamrock took second with 21 points, and Ian Hill’s Sitella third also with 21 points. For complete event details, visit https://www.sailingworld.com/tags/helly-hansen-nood-regatta-st-petersburg.

JOUST Tops Australian J/111 Championship at Festival of Sails

The Festival of Sails is the largest annual keelboat regatta in the Southern Hemisphere with over 300 yacht entries and 3,000 competitors annually taking part in the event. First held in 1844, the Festival of Sails Regatta (held over the Australia Day Long Weekend) is one of the nation’s oldest sporting events, and has evolved over many years culminating in its current format as Australia’s foremost keelboat regatta. Festival of Sails Chairman Stuart Dickson said beautiful weather, exciting racing on Corio Bay and Port Phillip Bay and a smorgasbord of entertainment combined for a terrific event. The Festival of Sails concurrently hosted the 2019 J/111 Australian Nationals in Corio Bay. From the very beginning, Rod Warren’s team aboard JOUST threw down the gauntlet by winning the first race. They never looked back, winning four more races over the three days and having to toss a second place to win with a perfect score of 5 points in 5 races. There was a battle for the balance of the podium with everything going down to the wire on the last day for the two contenders—Phil Simpfendorfer’s VELOCE and Rob Date’s SCARLET RUNNER. Team VELOCE’s crew were up to the task, posting a 3-2-4-2-1-4 for 12 points net to take the silver. Rounding out the podium to take the bronze was SCARLET RUNNER with a 2-3-2-5-5-3 tally for 15 points net. For more Festival of Sails information, visit https://festivalofsails.com.au/.

Rob Ruhlman’s Spaceman Spiff Nabs J/111 Midwinter Championship

After eight races, only two points separated the four boats competing for the J/111 Midwinter Championship, a part of J/Fest hosted by St. Petersburg Yacht Club in Florida. By way of a bullet in Saturday’s last (and ultimately final) battle, Rob Ruhlman’s Spaceman Spiff eked out the title with crew Dustin Graef, Jeff Haase, Marty Kullman, Doug Moose, Abigail Ruhlman, Ryan Ruhlman and Jim Sminchak. Four races were completed on Friday and again on Saturday in breezy conditions, although rain and unstable weather prevented any contests on Sunday. Ending with 15 net points, Spaceman Spiff flipped positions throughout the Championship with Ian Hill’s Sitella (who placed second with 16 points), the Andrew Ward/Sedgwick Ward team on Bravo (also with 16 points for third place) and Jeffrey Davis’ Shamrock with 17 points.

Final Results:

  1. Spaceman Spiff, Rob Ruhlman, 3 -2 -2 -1 -[4] -2 -4 -1 ; 15
  2. Sitella, Ian Hill, [4] -1 -4 -3 -1 -1 -2 -4 ; 16
  3. Bravo, Andrew Ward/Sedgwick Ward, 2 -3 -1 -[4] -2 -3 -3 -2 ; 16
  4. Shamrock, Jeffrey Davis, 1 -4 -3 -2 -3 -[5] -1 -3 ; 17
    Photos are available on the J/111 Class Facebook page, and complete results are available at https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=6071.

Round The County Race

117 boats signed up for the 2018 running of a popular race in the Pacific Northwest—the Round the County, hosted by the Orcas Island Yacht Club and the Friday Harbor Sailing Club. For Saturday, it was East winds 5 to 15 knots becoming NE in the afternoon. Then, on Sunday, the wind shifted into the North and was about 8-10 knots and relatively flat waters. The currents didn’t look to be too strong compared to previous years, but it was a factor for Saturday’s racing; the bigger boats could get through Haro Straits at the halfway point before it started ebbing against the rest of the fleet. Then, on Sunday the currents lined up well with the northerly winds. In the end in Class Zero, it was the slowest-rated boat that won—Kevin Welch’s J/111 RECON. For more Round the County Race information, visit http://roundthecounty.com/.

  1. Peter Wagner’s Skeleton Key Unlocks J/111 North American Championship
  2. Peter Wagner’s Skeleton Key Surges at J/111 North American Championship
  3. Jim Connelly’s Slush Fund Jumps Out at J/111 North American Championship
  4. Madmen Wins City of San Francisco Trophy at Rolex Big Boat Series
  5. Martin Dent’s JELVIS Repeats as J/111 World Champion
  6. Slow Vineyard Race
  7. Swift Time at Phyllis Kleinman Swiftsure Regatta
  8. Rowdy Weekend at Verve Cup Offshore / J/111 Great Lakes Championship
  9. Wicked Buzzards Bay Regatta
  10. J/111 Wicked Wins PHRF Division at Round the Island Race

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